Making Homemade Liqueurs

In the U.S., the term "liqueur" is synonymous with cordials and is derived from the Latin liquefacere, meaning to liquefy. It refers to the early Middle Ages monastic practice of extracting the essence of botanicals, which were added to base spirits and believed to have medicinal properties. Even though these concoctions all taste completely different, their basic recipe is fairly similar: alcohol and sugar (according to US law, a liqueur must contain at least 2.5 percent sugar by weight), plus spices, herbs, flowers, fruit, nuts, cream, or other flavorings.

According to Danish legislation a commercially produced liqueur must have a sugar content of at least 100 grams per liter. But many well known liqueurs have a much higher sugar content - usually 300-400 grams per liter. Traditionally, liqueurs - also known as cordials - are thicker and more smooth than other alcoholic beverages. True Danish flavoured schnaps, which is different than Schnapps, should not contain more than 15 grams sugar per liter. Danish Schnaps refers to any kind of strong alcoholic drink, similar to how eau de vie (water of life) is used in French, or aguardente (burning water) in Portuguese.

Which Spirit to Use

When you think of making homemade liqueurs, you tend to think of using a neutral spirit, something like a vodka. But so many of the recipes call for richer liquors like brandies, even wines.

You want the neutral spirit, such as vodka, when you don't want to have any other flavors there other than the solid ingredient that you're infusing into the liqueur. A good alcohol base to use, a true "neutral spirit," is Smirnoff® 80-proof (red-label) vodka or Gordon's.

But when making apple liqueurs, a cognac or a bourbon is frequently used because the caramely flavors in those brown liquors work very well with apple, pear and cinnamon flavors. When making herbal or spicy liqueurs, starting with a brown liquor gives you that head start. You also add that vanilla flavor from the aging and wood.

Tequilas are amazing with vegetable flavors, such as bell pepper, chile pepper, fennel and that kind of thing.

Rum is wonderful with tropical fruits like mango, pineapple and those kinds of flavors.

Flavors

One of the things nice about citrus fruit is the flavor of the peel. The peel contains bitter alkaloids that are healthy for you. Grapefruit is one of the only citruses that still retains some bitterness in its peel. When you put a grapefruit peel into vodka or any kind of alcohol, you're going to get a little bit of bitterness to it.

Mixing flavorings usually results in much richer tastes. With fruits, adding a little lemon/lime/orange peel can really liven up an taste. Cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg are also a great addition in moderation. Over-used, they can become fairly exotic tastes.

Spices/herbs/ingredients that would work well with honey as a sweetener and quickly come to mind are: cinnamon, cassia, green or white cardamom (use a very short steep), allspice, mace, clove (very short steep), vanilla, black pepper, toasted sesame seed, sage, saffron, nutmeg, caraway, ginger, and fennel. Cranberry goes very well with honey.

Stages to Making Liqueurs

In general, there are three stages to a liqueur. Steeping, filtering, and aging. Some flavors, like cranberry, need no aging. Some others, like tangerine, need up to three months just aging. Some flavors, notably almost all the dry spices, roots and beans, and any pre-packaged liqueur extracts like Royal Piper® and Noirot®, need almost no steeping. They'll be ready to be filtered in anything from several hours to a week, but almost never more.

Steeping

You shouldn't let herbs steep too long. Some herbs and spices I only let steep for a few hours. The taste can become overwhelming and also off tastes and bitter ones can emerge.

Compare the process with tea making. One of the principal constituents in tea leaves is tannin. A little tannin gives your tea a pleasantly bitter taste. But if you steep your tea leaves for too long you will extract too much tannin, and then your tea infusion will become much too bitter and astringent. So, it's really important to follow the steeping process carefully and taste the infusion from time to time to find out when it's just right - right for you. Remember to also shake your infusion lightly from time to time.

You can speed up the saffron steeping and get great results if you put the spirits and saffron in a loosley sealed canning jar and give it a gently water bath in barely simmering water for ten minutes. Heating the saffron releases ten times the flavor. Just be careful.

Doing this with cranberries created a much, much better cranberry vodka and an amazing cranberry liqueur. It's like the difference in depth and complexity of flavor between an uncooked vs. a cooked cranberry sauce.

If you crack the peppercorns they steep better. Pepper is one of the spices that give off better flavors the longer they steep but also the hotter it will be. I figure it depends upon the amount of peppercorns to alcohol for 2-8 months of steeping. I found that most of the flavor is out within a month. I have steeped peppercorns for just a few hours when all I want is a hint of pepper flavor with no heat. The good thing with steeping is that you can just open up a batch and taste test it every few days, weeks, months... If it is too strong just water it down with plain spirits, or use it as an extract to add a hint of flavor to something else.

The flavors do mellow out with age.

Filtering

The purpose of filtration is not only to make your infusion clear, attractive and appetizing. The purpose is also to remove all the small particles and impurities that might adversely affect the taste and flavours of your infusion during storage. Use a steel funnel lined with a piece of gauze, fine-weave cheesecloth, or damped cotton wool. Bottles and jars must be absolutely clean - and have tight-fitting lids or screw caps to prevent oxidation. You can also use good quality wine corks to close your bottles. Used vodka or wine bottles with screw-on tops are fine, as long as they are absolutely clean and without any residual flavours.

Aging and Storing

Before and between servings it's important that you keep your flavoured liqueurs and schnapps in a dark and relatively dry place at constant room temperature, 18-20°C (64-68°F). Or at least away from heat and direct sunlight as this can cause considerable and unwanted changes in both colour and aroma profile. The duration of storage differs from infusion to infusion, and depends on the kind of constituents you have extracted - and what suits your taste. But a couple of months should be enough in most cases to improve taste and flavours. Taste it from time to time to find out.

Sweeteners

Despite what you may think about how sweet the fruits you're using are, vodka will completely overpower them with its own inherent bitterness. To compensate for this, we add a saturated sugar solution to the liqueurs. This syrup serves two purposes - first, to make the liqueur drinkable by cutting the bitterness, and second to cut the alcohol down to a reasonable level. At 30-proof, the cranberry liqueur is strong enough. At 70-proof, it would be murder.

If you don't sweeten your liqueurs, you'll be making a poor-man's approximation of something called an eau de vie, such as a German Schnaps. If you use a lot of syrup, you'll be making a crème, which is usually a good dessert drink. A liqueur is just midway between those extremes.

PROPORTIONS: Liqueur: One cup syrup plus three cups 80 proof vodka equals 60 proof liqueur. Two cups syrup plus three cups 80 proof vodka equals 48 proof liqueur. If a 100 proof vodka is used, increase the sugar syrup by 1/8 cup. For a "creme de" liqueur, double the amount of syrup called for in the recipe. The greater the amount added, the lower the alcoholic content. Sugar syrup should be adjusted to personal preference and to the outcome of the liqueur's taste since variation can occur. True German/Danish flavoured schnaps should not contain more than 15 grams sugar per liter.

If your liqueur is too sweet, add a mixture of vodka and water (1:1). Sugar is converted to glucose and fructose which are simple sugar types with less sweet flavor. Therefore sugar must sometimes be added to homemade liqueurs after storage for some months. If your liqueur has too strong alcohol taste, add some water (or fruit juice) and sugar. If your liqueur has too low alcohol content, add vodka and sugar.

Most liqueurs are sweetened with white sugar, which does not impart a distinctive taste of its own. However, you can substitute white sugar for other sweeteners such as fruit sugars, brown sugar, cane sugar, a mix of different sugars, corn syrup, or honey. These substitutes are interesting alternatives, if you wish to experiment. Just remember that the kind and amount of sweetener you choose will affect the taste and flavour of your liqueur.

Traditionally, liqueurs are thicker and more smooth than other alcoholic beverages. And even though sweeteners add some body and "mouthfeel", they cannot always create the full-bodied texture that's associated with liqueurs. So, to give additional body and smoothness to thinner liqueurs you can add pure glycerine. Add it little by little until you have achieved the desired thickness and "mouthfeel". Pure glycerine does not affect the colours or flavours of your liqueur. You can get it at online or local liqueur and wine making shops.

Blending Flavored Liqueurs

You can create your very own and unique blends by blending different and properly stored (aged) alcohol infusions. With regard to taste, your infusions can be classified within the three basic tastes: sweet, sour, and bitter. A rule of thumb says that a good blend should contain a harmony between all three tastes - of course depending on what kind of liqueur you want to make.